Ingmar Bergman’s Cinema

by Criterion Collection

In honor of Ingmar Bergman’s one hundredth birthday, the Criterion Collection is proud to present the most comprehensive collection of his films ever released on home video. One of the most revelatory voices to emerge from the postwar explosion of international art-house cinema, Bergman was a master storyteller who startled the world with his stark intensity and naked pursuit of the most profound metaphysical and spiritual questions. The struggles of faith and morality, the nature of dreams, and the agonies and ecstasies of human relationships—Bergman explored these subjects in films ranging from comedies whose lightness and complexity belie their brooding hearts to groundbreaking formal experiments and excruciatingly intimate explorations of family life.

Arranged as a film festival with opening and closing nights bookending double features and centerpieces, this selection spans six decades and thirty-nine films—including such celebrated classics as The Seventh Seal, Persona, and Fanny and Alexander alongside previously unavailable works like Dreams, The Rite, and Brink of Life. Accompanied by a 248-page book with essays on each program, as well as by more than thirty hours of supplemental features, Ingmar Bergman’s Cinema traces themes and images across Bergman’s career, blazing trails through the master’s unequaled body of work for longtime fans and newcomers alike.

Genres: Film, Nonfiction, Media Tie In

248 pages, Paperback

Published November 20, 2018

Reviews

[Joe · Rating 5 out of 5]

This companion piece to the Criterion box set of Ingmar Bergman’s work functions as both a handy guide to his films and a fascinating collection of essays on its own. Essential reading for film buffs... or Bergman buffs, anyway.

[Mark R. · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book "Ingmar Bergman's Cinema" is of course the companion to the Criterion set of 39 films. I don't believe it's sold outside of the set, though it makes for good reading and could easily stand on its own, with its collection of thirty or so essays on the films included in the set.

Different authors are accompanied by clips from Bergman's own writings, and detail the themes, productions, and motives behind 39 of his works.

[Gregory D'Anna · Rating 5 out of 5]

FINALLY FINISHED THE BEST GIFT EVER, INGMAR BERGMAN'S CINEMA BY THE CRITERION COLLECTION. To my surprise (besides it being the best surprise ever to begin with), it also had a book. And I had the dumb idea of making it book #68 in my journey to 100, and well that meant I didn't read at all this year. That goal of 39 books is definitely not happening since I gave myself such a big handicap. It's already a massive box set, but I also did the Oscar Death Race, Canadian Screen Awards race, and then went to 6 World Cup games in 5 cities across Canada and USA. So the boxset and this book by extension took awhile. But I loved all the essays from assorted writers about the different films in the boxset.

I feel like I should be writing more since this book took so long, but this is all I got. Read a meme book for 6 7, read this for basically 8 months, and now onto to book #69. So basically I'm not doing any real reading this year 😂.

[Sam Knofczynski · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was curious if this essay collection was included on goodreads given that it is larger than some books I’ve read. And sure enough, here it is. This is one of the best things Criterion has ever put out and the essays here are a huge part of it. Getting deeper readings or backgrounds on Bergman and his movies helped illuminate their depth even more. Plus it includes excerpts from Bergman himself that made me want to go read his full autobiography